I installed a 10kWh home battery last spring, mainly because my electricity bills in Liverpool were getting painful whenever we used the oven, washing machine, and heating after work. I already had solar panels, but I was exporting a lot of midday power and buying electricity again in the evening. The battery has changed that pattern more than I expected.

On a normal sunny day, the panels fill the battery by early afternoon. Once the sun goes down, the battery runs the fridge, lights, router, television, and usually one washing cycle. I try to avoid running the electric shower and oven together, but ordinary evening use is covered surprisingly often. Before the battery, our evening consumption regularly cost around £1.50 to £2.00. Now that amount is usually closer to 40 or 50 pence, depending on the weather and tariff. Across a month, I am saving roughly £35 to £50 compared with the same period last year, although prices and our habits are not identical.

The most useful feature is scheduled charging. During several gloomy Liverpool weeks, the solar barely filled the battery, so I set it to charge overnight during the cheaper hours. That stopped me from paying the higher daytime rate, especially on days when the panels produced almost nothing. I did have one mildly annoying problem: the app showed the battery at 100 percent while the house was still drawing from the grid. After restarting the inverter and checking the settings, I discovered the backup reserve had accidentally been set to 30 percent. Lowering it to 10 percent fixed the issue.

I would not claim the battery has eliminated my bills. Winter is still expensive, and heavy heating use can drain it quickly. However, seeing much less electricity imported every evening makes the system feel worthwhile. My advice is to check your tariff carefully and choose a battery size based on evening usage, not just panel capacity.